Financial literacy - consumer stories. Excerpts from the FGIs

This study aims to evaluate the validity of the assumptions in the economic and non-economic literature on financial literacy. We conducted an exploratory qualitative research to examine the factors affecting modern consumers’ financial management.

We developed a semi-structured interview guide based on the conclusions drawn from the literature review. The interview guide consisted of a brief introduction (designed to relax the respondents and introduce them to the principles and purpose of the study), a main body containing interview questions, and a short summary.

The study was conducted in 2023 in Poland, among 36 native Polish speakers, aged between 18 and 65 years. Each participant was paid for participating in the study.

Participants were interviewed in six groups, each consisting of six participants. Six FGIs were conducted between May and September 2023 at the WSEI University in Lublin, Poland. The interviews were moderated by two trained researchers (Monika Wawrzeńczyk-Kulik and Robert Porzak), who followed the interview guide and facilitated discussions between participants according to the rules for conducting FGIs. The interviews were observed by the lead author (Andrzej Cwynar) using a one-way mirror in an adjacent room.

The interviews lasted for approximately 1 hour each and were audio- and video-recorded with informed consent from the participants. The recordings were transcribed verbatim and anonymized by the market research company that recruited the participants.

The dataset includes:
- an interview guide with instructions and questions.
- excerpts from the FGI interviews illustrating the analysis described in detail in the published article.